Announces Positive Top Line Results of its Clinical Study of LT-NS001 vs. naproxen and Achievement of Financing Milestone
WALTHAM, Mass., May 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Logical Therapeutics, Inc (Logical), a biotechnology company focused on the development of products that treat diseases associated with inflammation, today announced that Peter A. Lankau has been appointed Chief Executive Officer, and has been elected to the Company’s Board of Directors. Mr. Lankau was most recently President and CEO of Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc., a publicly traded specialty pharmaceutical company.
“I am excited to be teaming up with such an experienced group of scientists and investors to develop clinically meaningful and novel products for inflammatory diseases,” said Mr. Lankau. “Logical Therapeutics’ pipeline includes important medicines for the millions of people who suffer from chronic inflammatory conditions. Logical’s lead compound, LT-NS001 will be particularly important for patients whose need for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory treatment is complicated by significant gastrointestinal risks.”
Mr. Lankau became President and CEO of Endo Pharmaceuticals in 2005, after having served as President and COO since 2003, and SVP of Commercial Business since 2000. Previously, Mr. Lankau was Vice President, Sales and Marketing at Alpharma, Inc. and held various management positions at Rhone-Poulenc Rorer.
“We are delighted to have Peter join the Logical team and our Board of Directors,” said Lutz Giebel, Chairman of Logical Therapeutics, Inc., and the Managing Partner of SV Life Sciences Advisers LLC, a lead investor in Logical, “His experience in leading a growth oriented public company, his execution of numerous business development transactions, and his understanding of the commercially important, and value creating elements of drug development, will help propel Logical toward significant business opportunities in the future.”
Top Line Study Results
Logical also announced the reporting of data from its double-blind, randomized, active comparator study of LT-NS001 vs. naproxen, in subjects 45 to 70 years of age. LT-NS001 is a novel, patented NCE pro-drug of the popular non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) naproxen, which is being developed to significantly reduce the GI safety risks, including the formation of ulcers, associated with naproxen.
In the study, subjects underwent upper endoscopies at baseline and on day seven. Subjects receiving LT-NS001 experienced statistically significantly fewer endoscopically confirmed gastric ulcers compared to subjects receiving naproxen. The full results from this study will be presented at scientific meeting during the third quarter of 2009. See below for additional information on LT-NS001.
Financing Milestone Achieved
As a result of completing this proof-of-concept study demonstrating the improved GI safety of LT-NS001 in humans, Logical Therapeutics has successfully completed all of the milestones associated with its Series B financing round. Logical intends to continue to progress the clinical development of LT-NS001, as well as its other programs, to fully explore their commercial potential as candidates for partnering.
About LT-NS001
LT-NS001 is a novel, patented NCE pro-drug of the popular non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) naproxen, which is being developed by Logical Therapeutics to significantly decrease the GI safety risks associated with naproxen. Naproxen is widely regarded as the NSAID with the most favorable cardiovascular safety profile among all of the drugs in this class.
LT-NS001 is pharmacologically inactive as an NSAID in the GI tract, but once absorbed into the bloodstream, it is converted rapidly and quantitatively to naproxen. It is being developed to provide therapeutic levels of naproxen while avoiding high local concentrations of naproxen in the GI tract, thereby reducing the local GI toxicity associated with conventional naproxen.
In pre-clinical studies, LT-NS001 has demonstrated significantly less damage to the gastrointestinal tract than equimolar doses of naproxen.
LT-NS001 has been studied in various randomized controlled single-dose and multiple-dose clinical studies. In all cases, there were no serious adverse events and LT-NS001 was well tolerated. Moreover, when the subjects were dosed twice daily with LT-NS001, plasma concentrations of naproxen were within the therapeutic range.
The use of NSAIDs is associated with serious side effects, the most frequent being an increased rate of gastric and duodenal ulcers. In the United States alone, the direct costs of treating ulcer complications associated with NSAID use exceed $4 billion a year. Serious NSAID-induced gastrointestinal (GI) complications, such as hemorrhage and perforation, are directly responsible for approximately 20,000 deaths per year in the United States.
Logical Therapeutics is developing LT-NS001 under an exclusive license from Medinox, Inc.
About Logical Therapeutics Inc.
Based in Waltham, MA, Logical Therapeutics, Inc. is a venture-backed, privately held biotechnology company focused on the development of products that treat diseases associated with inflammation. Logical’s investors include S V Life Sciences, Burrill and Company, Novo Ventures A/S, and Novitas Capital. For more information on Logical Therapeutics, visit the company’s website at www.logicaltherapeutics.com.
Inquiries regarding LT-NS001 should be addressed to our business development department at bd@logicaltherapeutics.com
CONTACT: Nicole Loring of Zer0 to 5ive LLC, +1-617-834-2190,
nicole@0to5.com, for Logical Therapeutics, Inc.
Web site: http://www.logicaltherapeutics.com/
